Welcome back David! Bournemouth star Brooks returns to the pitch 536 DAYS after his last match as the Welshman comes off the bench at Aston Villa after battling cancer… with Gary O’Neil ‘delighted’ the winger have returned
- David Brooks returned to play for Bournemouth after 536 days out
- The Welshman had been out of action since September 2021 for the fight against cancer
- After overcoming stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, he came off the bench to play
David Brooks made his return to football after 536 days in Bournemouth’s loss to Aston Villa on Saturday after battling cancer.
It was the Welsh midfielder’s first appearance since September 2021, after he was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October of that year.
Both the home and away fans came together to applaud Brooks as he strode onto the Villa Park pitch to replace Adam Smith on 79 minutes.
Despite the eventual nature of the 3–0 defeat at Villa Park, Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil was delighted to see Brooks back on the pitch after battling cancer.
O’Neil told the BBC: “I’m delighted for Brooksy but disappointed that he’s back in a game we got nothing from, but overall it’s fantastic for him.”
David Brooks came off the bench for Bournemouth to play his first game since battling cancer
Gary O’Neil was ‘delighted’ to welcome the Welsh winger to the game despite a 3-0 defeat
“He will be ready to play again after the international break.”
The joyous celebration of Brooks’ return to the pitch was similar to the one marking Sebastian Haller’s return to Borussia Dortmund after battling testicular cancer.
Last week, Brooks was included in the team sheet for the match against Liverpool. It was the first time since October 2, 2021, when he was an unused substitute against Sheffield United. He also stayed on the bench against Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
This week he did appear, towards the end of the game at Villa Park, when the score was 1-0 after Douglas Luiz opened the scoring after seven minutes.
The home win was secured late on when Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia added goals for Unai Emery’s side in the last ten minutes.
Brooks was named as an unused substitute last week against Liverpool before his return.
The result leaves Bournemouth stuck in the middle of the relegation zone, with Southampton picking up a surprise point by coming from behind against Tottenham, and Leicester City also securing a draw against Brentford.
O’Neil told the returning Match of the Day programme: “The performance will look worse because of the result, but at 1-0 we were right in the game and we had created chances.” We went ahead and got punished. It wasn’t good enough today.
‘Players will respond; they will be disappointed because we had situations where we should have done better. The game was there for us; we were not outmatched. It wasn’t a 3-0 game and it got away from me.’
Bournemouth return to Premier League action after the international break with home games against Fulham and Brighton.